Eclipse
by Carnation Cascade
Summary: A two-part oneshot featuring Itachi and Sasuke in an AU hospital setting. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters.**_

_**A/N:  
A two-part oneshot featuring Itachi and Sasuke in an AU hospital setting.  
Thank you for reading this and I apologize for any mistakes and errors beforehand!**_

_**Do leave a review :) and ENJOY**_

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_**18 January, Monday, 8.09 am.**_

"Are you sure, Mr. Uchiha?"

Uchiha Itachi wasted no time at all, nodding solemnly.

The receptionist gave a somewhat grim look and proceeded to slide the paper across the counter top to Itachi. Handing the finely dressed man a black ballpoint pen, she said, "Then please sign your name at the bottom of the page."

Said man inked his name onto the document with a flourish and passed it back to the receptionist. "Thank you," he uttered, then stood up and left.

"Mr. Uchiha!"

The raven-haired man halted mid-step but didn't so much as cast a glance at the receptionist behind him.

"The operation will be on the 22nd February, Thursday, at 2pm."

He blinked once, twice, then nodded, and strode out the doors of the hospital.

_**30 January, Saturday, 3.58 am.**_

With a flutter, the paper slipped out of Itachi's hands and landed gently on the white floor.

Frankly, the eldest member of the Uchiha family couldn't quite cope with it anymore.

He settled his hand over his brother's tenderly, stroking the smooth skin. Uchiha Sasuke didn't respond. He lay on the pristine hospital bed, in a deep slumber.

Itachi watched the steady rise and fall of his younger brother's chest as the memories flooded back into his mind.

As a senior member of the government's elite troop, he had received his final mission two years ago: Eliminate the entire Uchiha clan. The Konoha country's government had received intelligence that the Uchiha clan was plotting a coup to overthrow the government. And they wanted them out.

Standing at the head of the Uchiha clan was Uchiha Fugaku, Itachi's father.

The fateful day of the assassination arrived sooner than Itachi would have liked. And so he wiped out the whole clan… relatives, friends, and even his own parents… died by his own hands.

Yet there was one person he couldn't kill—his younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke.

And just a few months ago, he had been informed of Sasuke's eye condition. The only other survivor of the Uchiha clan suffered from a hereditary illness affecting the eye, known as the Sharingan. Itachi himself was plagued with the illness, but his eyes were still healthy since the illness usually started to set in once the person aged beyond 60 years old. Sasuke's condition was rare, however. The illness had already begun taking away his eyesight at the tender age of fourteen.

… And the doctor had just told Itachi that Sasuke's condition had taken a turn for the worse. The operation would have to be moved forward.

Itachi's gaze softened as he stared at his brother's peaceful sleeping face.

He could only hope for the best.

_**15 February, Tuesday, 2.00 pm**_.

The red light outside the operation theatre faded.

Not like there was anyone who was waiting outside for the Uchiha brothers.

After a while, the doctor covered in green emerged, an anxious look on his face.

He could only hope for the best.

_**15 February, Tuesday, 9.26 pm., Sasuke's ward**_

Sasuke woke with a start.

He propped himself up on the bed with his elbows, and ran his fingers over the bandage covering his eyes carefully. Had the operation been a success? He wanted to believe so. In his heart, the boy thanked the kind person who had offered to give him his eyes. The doctors had only mentioned that he was a 'nice individual', but had not revealed his name.

"Ah, I see you're up, Sasuke."

The child lost his train of thought as soon as he heard the nurse's voice.

"I'm here to remove the bandages, so if you would please…"

Sasuke waited with bated breath as the nurse lifted the bandage, layer after layer, from his head.

And then finally the last layer was removed…

There was light.

_**15 February, Tuesday, 9.26 pm., Ward B**_

Beep… beep… beep

The regular beeping emanated through the ward—the only proof that Itachi was still alive.

"Has he come to yet?"

The doctor on his rounds asked as he performed his regular check on the equipment and the statuses.

With a clipboard tucked in her arm, the young nurse shook her head, afraid. This Itachi man was her first patient… and he was going to die? Was this going to be a black mark on her record?

"Don't worry too much," the doctor spoke with confidence, but the expression on his face betrayed him completely. And when he reached for the side-table's cupboard, the nurse confirmed her belief.

This man was going to die.

_**15 February, Tuesday, 11.45 am.**_

Her first impression of him was a stern, cold and aloof man, probably self-centered and uncaring.

Until he had smiled. It was a heart-warming, radiant smile, with enough power to melt the tension between them.

"Good morning," he had greeted, and introduced himself as Uchiha Itachi.

Nurse Ayami could feel herself blushing profusely. It was only her first day as a junior nurse and she couldn't believe now nice this man was. She had hoped all the people she'd meet would be like this.

"Are you in charge of Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Ah! Yes!" She wondered how this man knew one of her patients.

As if he could read her mind, the man answered, " I will be the donor of his eyes."

There was a small awkward silence as Nurse Ayami digested this information. She had been told that the operation for Uchiha Sasuke and his donor was exceptionally dangerous and life-endangering for them…

Unexpectedly Uchiha Itachi calmly produced an envelope from his shirt pocket and slipped it into the side-table 's cupboard, and instructed, "Please pass it to Sasuke…"

The last part was barely a murmur.

"… If I don't make it back out alive."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters.**

**A/N:**  
**The second and concluding chapter! Thank you to those who followed and/or favorited!**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter, and leave a review if you'd like :)**

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"**Tears do not wash away the pain of yesterday, but drive the anger of tomorrow."**

_**15 February, Tuesday, 10.13 pm., Sasuke's ward**_

Words failed to form in Sasuke's mouth when the nurse asked him if he was done with using the washroom. He was too busy staring at himself in the mirror.

Gingerly touching the corner of his eye, his eyes riveted to the image of himself in the mirror, Sasuke gulped repeatedly. He could see! Finally he could see!

But that wasn't the reason behind his behaviour.

Sasuke's fear slowly crept out from the depths of his heart and started to wrap itself around him in a death-grip.

Why… Why did his eyes seem so… familiar?

Sasuke took a deep breath. With that, he widened his eyes and instantaneously activated the Sharingan pattern, which all Sharingan-afflicted people had, on his eyes.

He choked on nothing but air, or maybe it was the dread that had now enveloped him.

Weren't these patterns… These eyes…

…His brother's?

_**15 February, Tuesday, 10.16pm., Ward B**_

"Something's wrong! Doctor!" Nurse Ayami held back her shriek.

The doctor's eyes flashed with urgency as he quickly scanned the equipment—and he found out what had gone wrong.

"Prepare for emergency measures!" He commanded calmly. Then, turning to Nurse Ayami, "Take the letter. You know where to go." He produced the envelope from his pocket and handed it to her.

Nurse Ayami quaked violently on the inside. She gripped the letter with trembling fingers and immediately, headed off on her mission. The other nurse attending to Itachi whipped out all the necessary equipment in a flash, while another nurse drew the curtains around Uchiha Itachi's bed.

"His heart rate is slowing down very drastically," commented the anxious nurse in charge of monitoring his statistics.

The doctor began making preparations hastily.

It wasn't fair for such a nice individual to leave like this…

The beeping of the instrument was replaced by a monotonous tone.

_**15 February, Tuesday, 10.16 pm., Sasuke's ward**_

There was a clattering sound that startled the nurse outside the door.

"Sasuke, are you okay?"

"Hn."

He hadn't meant to knock his cup off the sink. Grouching as usual, he bent down to pick it up, only to find that there was a crack.

He scowled violently. The issue with the eyes was confusing enough already, and now this? Just how much nonsense was he supposed to put up with?

But he halted when the crack split further and shards of plastic snapped off, one of them even cutting Sasuke's forearm.

If the cup cracking was a bad omen, then this ought to be the epitome of a disaster.

_**15 February, Tuesday, 10.18pm., Corridor**_

Darned receptionist. Taking her own sweet time to give him an answer.

Sasuke was a mix of anger and fear and… dare he say it? Worry. He felt so very, very uncomfortable as he pounded down the corridor, only a minute after he'd managed to find out Itachi's ward from that slowpoke receptionist.

_Ward B._

_Ward B._

_Ward B._

These were the only words that revolved in Sasuke's mind as he took turn after turn, and sped down corridors with alarming speed for a child who'd just gone for an operation on the same day.

_Ward B. It's just around the corner here—_

He landed smack on his bottom and was about to curse when the person who had crashed into him headfirst, the nurse, to be exact, got up first and thrust a yellow envelope into his hands.

She seemed to be at a loss for words, but Sasuke could see the look in her eyes. They were pleading him, beseeching him to open the envelope.

And open the envelope Sasuke did.

He practically tore it open and snatched the letter from inside, unfolding the crinkled paper.

He started to read it.

_**15 February, Tuesday, 10.33pm., Ward B**_

Too late.

Sasuke made it just in time to see the doctor cover Itachi's face with a sheet of white.

The sole survivor of the Uchiha clan collapsed into one of the chairs outside the ward. It wasn't possible. It wasn't true. It wasn't supposed to end like this.

The letter was clenched tightly in his fist.

Sasuke sat, and waited for someone—anyone—to just walk out and say it was a lie, that he was hallucinating, or that maybe it was a nightmare that he would wake up from when the nurse woke him up in the morning.

But no.

Salvation never arrived.

Still Sasuke waited.

The hospital reeked of antiseptic and Sasuke felt like vomiting. Vomitting out his grief, his despair…

His guilt.

After reading the letter, Sasuke had reached a conclusion.

Itachi really did love him after all.

But it was too late then, wasn't it.

Tears pooled in Sasuke's eyes. He realized they were Itachi's eyes too. How could he make his brother cry? It was a sign of disrespect to his brother, the same brother who had sacrificed everything, even his own life, for Sasuke.

No. He wouldn't cry.

Abruptly, he stood up, releasing the paper from his grip.

Itachi had intended for his eyes to be the light for Sasuke, to brighten up the path ahead of him.

Except that, when the life in Itachi had faded, so had the light in those eyes.

Darkness now seeped in, clouding Sasuke's eyesight to the point where he became blind. Blind with rage. Blind with despondence. Blind with vengeance.

A single teardrop trickled down the contour of his face.

Konoha was going to pay.

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EPILOGUE:

The letter fluttered to the ground. Though thoroughly crumpled, the last line was still visible.

It read:" I will always love you, my little brother."


End file.
